For context, I don't read nearly as much as I should. I have always respected books, but for whatever reason, I've always been reluctant to read anything. I always hear people talk about the work of Hemmingway, Dostoevsky, McCarthy, Tolstoy, Kafka, etc, and while I know books like The Brothers Karamazov and Blood Meridian are generally considered to be some of the greatest of all time, I'm hesitant to read them because I fear I'd be overwhelmed by their narrative and authorial complexity. I have read a few director autobiographies, Kurosawa's Something Like an Autobiography being my favorite, and I have skimmed through screenplays, but that's about as far as I've gotten in recent memory.
I'm very fond of cinema and have always wanted to become a filmmaker. My favorites include films like Memories Of Murder, Citizen Kane, Touch Of Evil, La Haine, Yi Yi, Aftersun, High and Low, Mirror, F for Fake, The Zone Of Interest, The Night Of The Hunter, Judgement At Nuremberg, Chinatown, Ikiru, No Country For Old Men, Paris, Texas, The Third Man, Mulholland Drive, Schindler's List, and Stalker.
I'm looking for books that are similar to the films I listed above and act as a gateway into more complex works of literature. I feel like my writing style is too clunky and very inconsistent, and that my lexicon is too simplistic and not distinct enough. I really hope books can change that. It's funny, because you'd probably think I was an avid reader purely based off of the films I enjoy, so I am, admittedly, somewhat embarrassed to be making this post in the first place. America's literacy crisis scares me, and I don't want to be someone whose talent and skills are reduced because I didn't read enough.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
by TheGhostGuyMan